Shake it off Analysis

Shake It Off is a type one, performance music video that features Taylor Swift singing her song while also emphasizing a key message, which also happens to be a type three, concept music video. "There's music in my head telling me everything's going to be fine." This quote from the music video implies that even if you're having a bad day, things will improve, and thus the message conveyed is positive. This music video is very different from her first music video, 'Love Story,' and it appears that she has matured from a young, innocent adolescent to a mature woman with a broader view of the world. In addition, in her most recent music videos, Bad Blood and Wildest Dreams, she has matured yet again. This backs up Richard Dyer's Star Theory because she has matured with her fans, who accept and value her. This means there haven't been any major changes that could have upset her fan base. Taylor appeals to a wide range of people, but her biggest fans are young girls. Even though it isn't a sexualized video, there are shots where she is wearing revealing clothing, which would automatically attract a male audience. Similarly, the male gaze isn't used in any way in Taylor's Love Story music video; she looks so innocent in a white wedding gown with her blonde hair curled and tied back. The male gaze is definitely used in Taylor's Bad Blood video because she and the other females all wear tight black outfits that represent danger and sexual appeal. Taylor's gradual maturation allowed her fanbase to mature alongside her at their own pace. Miley Cyrus, on the other hand, went from Hannah Montanna, an innocent, youthful popstar, to Miley Cyrus, who was partly naked in her music videos. Miley Cyrus's career was cut short, but Taylor Swift has remained unaffected. Richard Dyer also claims that a pop star's common values include sexual magnetism, youthfulness, and creativity/talent, all of which are three categories in which the music video falls. In Shake It Off, Taylor Swift is depicted as both ordinary and extraordinary. When she can't dance like the professional dancers, she becomes ordinary, which creates a comedic parody that shows the audience that she doesn't take herself too seriously. According to Dyer's star theory, the star is both present and absent in our lives. At the end of the music video, for example, there are ordinary people dressed casually dancing with her, making the audience feel as if they are present in their lives. In contrast, Taylor is missing from our lives because she is filming a music video and is surrounded by professional dancers and performers, reiterating that she is a celebrity and not a regular person like the rest of us. The lack of reality, on the other hand, creates a personal relationship between the audience and the star, as well as allowing for surveillance because the audience enjoys following Taylor. The music video's high key lighting reinforces the positive message being spread, and this corresponds to the montage of close-ups and mid-shots of smiling faces from both Taylor and ordinary people.